|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
People SearchFind an individual who either played a sport or was a member of a support group. Search by last name by clicking on the first letter of the person's last name.
Mrs. Meredith Hall , née Sisson
Home:
Work:
Home Phone: 337-993-8908 Women’s Basketball: Halls leave UL for Cincinnati Former women’s basketball coach to take over Bearcats Dan McDonald J. Kelley Hall will get a rare opportunity in the coaching profession – the chance to bring a second program out of the doldrums. The 48-year-old Hall was introduced at a press conference at UC’s Lindner Athletics Center on Wednesday afternoon, after interviewing for the position last weekend. “I was looking for a job that has a chance to win a national championship,” Hall said at that press conference. “We can do it here. We can do it in the Big East.” Turning the Bearcats into a conference contender won’t be easy, but that task pales next to the one Hall inherited when he accepted the UL position five years ago to the day on April 5, 2002. “I’m looking at it as half-full,” Hall said of his new post, “where before it was empty. There was not a drop in it.” The Cajuns hadn’t had a winning season in 15 years when Hall took over in the 2002-03 season, and had only five winning seasons in the program’s history. In the decade of the 1990s, UL’s women won only 45 games and lost 226. After 8-19 and 13-15 seasons in Hall’s first two years, UL has posted three straight winning campaigns and a three-year mark of 65-28. Those three years also included the program’s first two league titles, with UL winning the Sun Belt Conference’s Western Division title twice including last season. UL just completed its winningest season in history at 25-9 and was an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament, another program first. “With the success of our program over the last few years,” said UL interim athletic director David Walker, “it’s understandable that universities across the country would show an interest in Coach Hall. What he and (wife and co-head coach) Meredith have accomplished in only five seasons is a tribute to their abilities and their dedication.” Hall said one of his biggest regrets was not having more opportunity to work with Walker. “He cares about the coaches and his people and he cares about the program,” Hall said. “He doesn’t have an ego about the other stuff.” Walker said the search for a replacement would begin immediately and that the program is in better shape to attract qualified candidates than when Hall took over the program. UC athletic director Mike Thomas said that Hall’s contract is for five years with details being negotiated, but Hall said the annual salary is a significant increase from the combined $117,936 salary that he and his wife earned in this fiscal year. A UC release said that Hall was one of 10 candidates interviewed by the school. “I talked to people on the NCAA selection committee, and one of the things they told me was that you don’t want to play a Kelley Hall team because they play defense and they rebound at a very high level,” Thomas said. “And they’re very athletic. They’re fun to watch.” Hall came to UL from a position as associate head coach at Louisville, and also served as an assistant at Auburn, Cal State Fullerton, Mississippi State, Alabama and Troy along with eight years as head coach at Gordon and Truett-McConnell Junior Colleges. “He’s been at this for a long time and has had great success,” Thomas said. “He’s worked at a lot of great programs.” Originally published April 5, 2007 Co-head coaches named for UL women’s hoops June 01, 2006 – The University of Louisiana didn’t have to look far to complete its women’s basketball coaching staff. “This is equal across the board … pay, everything,” said Kelley Hall. “We both answer to David (interim athletic director David Walker) and Dr. Authement (UL president Ray Authement).” Meredith Hall has been the program’s volunteer assistant for four seasons after serving as assistant coach at her alma mater Virginia Commonwealth for three years from 1998-2001. Her hiring as co-head coach was approved this week by the University of Louisiana Board of Supervisors. “The door was open for an opportunity,” Meredith Hall said. “I could probably get a head coaching job somewhere, but to be here it’s an honor and a good opportunity.” “She did a terrific job as a volunteer coach,” Walker said. “Her experience as a collegiate student-athlete and having seven seasons of coaching is invaluable. “Our women’s basketball program has made tremendous strides in the last four years, and together they’re going to keep us headed in the right direction.” UL has finished second, first and second in the Sun Belt West Division the last three years and went 18-10 this season. The Cajuns are 53-34 over the past three years. Many of Meredith Hall’s duties won’t change. She’ll continue to oversee the Cajun guards and work with the team conditioning program. But the new role allows her to be more involved with promoting the program, and she can now legally recruit off-campus. “This year more than ever, with the Sun Belt Tournament here in Lafayette, we’re going to need the community support,” Meredith Hall said. “When we come back from summer recruiting in August, I’m going to get out there and drum up the energy now and not wait until the tournament.” “She’s a heck of a recruiter,” Kelley Hall said. “More than anything else, Meredith can be more visible in the community from an official standpoint. She’s always been able to coach … that part’s been easy. But it’s been hard for her to step back because she wasn’t an official university employee. It’s a win-win situation for us and the university.” Meredith Hall was team captain at VCU for two seasons and also played with the Washington Mystics of the WNBA. Serving as co-head coaches makes a state regulation prohibiting spouses working for spouses inapplicable. It also means the two are likely locked into their UL posts for the foreseeable future. “This shows people we’re not going to just win and jump somewhere,” Meredith Hall said. “What this does is give us more stability,” Kelley Hall said. “It solidifies us here for a long time.” And working with a spouse that closely? “It has its pros and cons,” Meredith Hall said. “We have a lot of coaching philosophies in common. We come home and put the girls to sleep and we’re talking basketball. “He and I don’t always agree on every single thing, but what we do have the ability to do is communicate. Besides, he can’t get mad at me for very long because we live together.” Originally published June 1, 2006
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
